Laurence Maguire is tipping one of his defensive partners to come back stronger from injury.

The Chesterfield centre-half began last night’s game against Newport alongside Sid Nelson, but finished it partnering Alex Whitmore.

Nelson injured himself in the first half when making an heroic goal-line clearance, clattering into a post as his leg folded awkwardly underneath him.

Maguire said it’s typical of the Millwall loanee to put himself in harm’s way and admits it could have been a bad injury.

“It doesn’t look so good at the minute, he’s got a scan and we’ll see what happens,” said Maguire.

“You see that every day in training, he puts his body on the line for the lads, sadly he went into the post.

“He was doing well, he’s been good for us and it’s a sad one for Sid but I’m sure he’ll recover very quickly and come back stronger.”

Maguire, Nelson and Whitmore all played their part in keeping the club’s first clean sheet in 17 outings.

The players knew their first half showing was below par but, aided by a pair of half-time replacements in Robbie Weir and Jacob Brown, took control of the second half and went on to win through Kristian Dennis’ goal.

Things could have been even better for the Spireites had they not missed a glut of chances, Dennis in particular bewildered as to how he didn’t bag his first ever brace for the club.

“We thought the first half performance wasn’t good enough and Evo had things to say at half-time,” said Maguire.

“The two substitutions, Robbie and Browny, made a big difference, we pressed them and got the goal I thought we deserved.

“Denno had a great chance, he’s been saying in there he can’t believe he missed it, but it’s not like Denno, he usually puts everything in the back of the net.

“Finally we got the clean sheet we’ve been looking for.”

Maguire was pleased to give long-suffering Town fans something to applaud last night and appreciated the backing the players received.

“I thought the fans were excellent, got behind us,” he said.

“With what’s going on above us, we just carry on.

“I’m sure the fans will be happy with the second half performance, we’ve shown a bit of fight for them.